Nursing industry desperate to find new hires

Applicants for nursing jobs are still so scarce that recruiters have been forced to get increasingly inventive. One Michigan company literally rolled out a red carpet at a recent hiring event. Recruiters across the country have tried similar techniques, offering chair massages, lavish catering, and contests for flat-screen TVs, GPS devices, and shopping sprees. The shortage has left employers no choice: it has led to chronic understaffing that can threaten patient care and nurses' job satisfaction, and the problem is expected to worsen.